Elemental

Chapter 34

I stuff a bunch of clothes into my little bag and zip it up tight. I snatch my room key off the desk and shove it in my back pocket, next to my phone.
Luke, on the other side of the room, does the same.
"Are you ready?" I ask him, once my bag is packed.
"Yup," he says with a sigh.
"Aren't you worried about Olivia?" I ask.
"Yes of course," he says.
"Why aren't  you acting like it?" I question.
"I'm in shock ok?!" He yells. "Sorry, Im scared. Mom and Dad, They are keeping Olivia because she tried to come study here. They sent you here so we could come 'visit' you and do this. But she backed out. So to-uh- trick you, she made Avery-a life Elemental- use her powers to look like Liv. Avery is Collins daughter. Collins married a Life Elemental-its weird because ya know life and death. But it worked out. Anyway, she came with me and said if I told anyone that she would hurt Olivia or you, or me. So when she asked me to make the diluter I added hydrogen which makes someone stronger. And that is all you don't know," he spits out.
"Wow," I mutter.
"I know it's a lot," he says as he zips up his bag. "Let's go!"
I feel so nervous and sick.
"Is this a bad choice?" I ask nervously as I open the door.
"It's just a visit, nothing more, nothing less. Think of it like that," Luke says.
"Yeah, yeah, you're totally right," I sigh. We go up the elevator and to the main floor.
The main floor is filled with people, leaving to go visit their friends and family back home. The ceiling lowers down, like it did the first day. A bus comes down and people go in.
I see Liam next to a bus.
He comes over and gives me a hug.
"Let's go," he says. He guides us into a bus and we find seats in the back.
The platform rises up and the bus goes up.
For the first time in a year I see real trees, real grass, and a real blue sky.
I smile. Luke and Liam look at me with an odd expression.
"I haven't seen real nature in a long time," I explain.
"True," Liam says. Luke nods along.
Our bus is going to Sacramento, near the Puissant base. And we are all the way in Los Angeles.
"This will be a five hour drive," says the muffled bus drivers voice.
We all look at each other.
This will be a while.